School radio on the go
Richard Bull pops by the blog to tell you how to get your hands on ´óÏó´«Ã½ podcasts for Scottish primary schools...
Do you remember listening to the radio when you were at school? Did you hop, skip and jump to a music-and-movement programme? Or perhaps doze off in an overheated classroom while a resonant voice intoned endlessly about the industrial revolution?
In the past radio was used routinely in the classroom. So why isn't it still?
Audio is an ideal medium for classroom use. It's simple to use, and whereas watching TV can be a slumped, passive experience, listening to the radio demands an active mind and a lively imagination. Good programmes will stimulate listeners and spin off into discussion and activities.
´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland has never stopped making radio programmes for primary schools, but we've been looking at the best way to deliver these programmes to our audience. And that's why, for the first time, Scottish school radio programmes are now being made available as podcasts.
There are two regular podcasts, corresponding with Curriculum for Excellence learning stages.
Scottish Learners Early/1st Level will deliver all our programmes for young children in the Early and First stages. Available now and in the coming weeks will be a series of Nina and the Neurons about everyday inventions, SoundStory which is a radio programme without words, and the PE resource Movement First!
Scottish Learners 2nd Level will include the Financial Education resource Money-Go-Round, Landscapes/Soundscapes which explores various locations in Scotland, and Boys + Girls, a series of plays which address issues of growing up, relationships and transition.
Each podcast is available to download for 30 days. In addition to the podcasts, each programme has its own page, and in the weeks ahead we'll be adding audio and information to these pages, so that the programmes will remain an accessible and useful resource.
I'll write more soon about the radio programmes that we're making, and - crucially - about how we want to get you making radio programmes too. But for now my message to primary teachers is: Download! Subscribe! And let's get radio back into the classroom!
For those unfamiliar with the rules of podcasting, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ provides good help pages.
And if you want more, most of the programmes made by our Learning colleagues in England are also available as podcasts.
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